Joss Stone: “The Choking Kind”

There’s live review on this site of Joss Stone’s SXSW performance in March. I first heard her on NPR, probably late in 2003. I still hold to the belief that she’s got a very rare instrument in that incredible voice.
I haven’t been nailed by a voice on a teen like this since maybe LeAnn Rimes’ debut single, “Blue.” Sure, there was Christina Aguilera, but that first album felt manufactured, like most of what Jive and their brethren at RCA were doing with teen-focused acts in those days. Frankly, I think her latest, “Naked,” is excellent. I remember first hearing “Naked” the weekend I saw “8 Mile” and telling my wife that both Christina and Eminem had impressed the heck out of me that weekend. But I digress.

The Joss Stone TV appearances I’ve seen more or less confirm what I thought at SXSW, in that she’s still quite young as a live performer. That’s fine, she’s just 17 and hopefully has several decades of experience ahead of her.

This MP3 comes through Amazon.com, who have a few goodies tucked away in their Free Downloads section.

Published by Richard Tafoya

Richard Tafoya is a music journalist, photographer and web developer living in Los Angeles. This site is a mix of original posts and unedited versions of material created for other publications.
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